Oh pants I messed up BIG!!!

Broke_Bear

Fairly quiet for me at the moment, NSD on Friday and £8.50 spent yesterday on my share of a coffee table for the living room. Had a lovely valantines meal with OH using some of an m&s gift card we were given for Christmas. We didn’t even get the meal deal just a nice main and garlic bread on the side, the deserts section had been decimated so I offered to make syrup sponge and custard which is one of OH’s favourites so only needed custard powder. £6.90 instead of the £20 meal deal seems like a win to me!

Yesterday DSD came up for the weekend so many computer games have been played! OH and I went out to charity shop to look at coffee tables and bought one for £25 out of the house savings pot. We had to top this up so my share of the table was only £8.50.

today I will be planting garlic, sorting and decluttering the bedroom and making a roast dinner so hopefully another NSD for me today. 

Broke_Bear

Well my garlic is starting to sprout in the cold frame and I have some very small seedlings starting on the windowsill. 🌱🌱🌱
The list so far is as follows:
elephant garlic - coldframe
standard garlic - coldframe
cerinthe - now in greenhouse 
winter density lettuce - greenhouse 
rocket - greenhouse 
bishops children dahlias - to go into greenhouse 
antirrinum (snap dragons) - too small to go out yet
nicotiana sylvestris - too small to go out yet
cosmos - to go into greenhouse 
coriander - too small to go out yet
basil - too small to go out yet
parsley - too small to go out yet
chives - not yet germinated 
tanacetum (not yet germinated so will see if it does anything!)

I want to get my sweet peas sown today and possibly a few others but will see how much space I have on the windowsill. 

Other garden jobs will include continuing to prune the roses and weeding the borders to clear out the winter. 

Need to get some more seed trays and I have decided to buy fewer, decent quality ones rather than the single use ones I have previously used. Once the seedlings are ready to be pricked out they will go into the small (3cm diameter) newspaper pots from my kit then potted on into the large newspaper pots (approx 7cm diameter).  They will then either be planted straight out or potted on into a plastic pot saved from GC purchases last year. Less plastic use and the ones in the paper pots can go straight into the ground without root disturbance as the pot will break down in the soil 👍🏻

In other news, my last debt has defaulted me as I got the letter from them yesterday 😁😁

I know my credit score is ruined for 6 years but I never want any again other than the mortgage and car as required (current car will hopefully be good for a large number of years yet) and we are likely to be mortgage free before I am debt free but I am going to try and get them done at roughly about the same time. We have 9 years left on the mortgage and my dmp is due to last about 15 years so much saving and some cheeky f & f’s down the line might just see this happen 🤞🏻🤞🏻

Broke_Bear

Ooh also have 3 jalapeño pepper seedlings and 2 sweet pepper seedlings on the windowsill which will be staying there for the foreseeable as it is way too cold in the greenhouse at the moment.

Sarahwithlove

You definitely want to try and get your dmp down as you don't want to work hard at being mortgage free to then still have debt hanging over you. Good luck it all. 

Verbatim

All all sounds good. Well done on the seedlings. 

Broke_Bear

Sarah- that’s the plan and as quickly as I can without being in complete penury!
Verbatim- thanks, I love growing things, it helps keep me sane and I am determined that I will try and grow much more from seed this year.

Broke_Bear

Just updated my Signature with this month's Stepchange Statement.  Now that all my debts have defaulted I can see what my true starting figure was due to interest and charges added before default.  Well, £30, 678 was a terrible place to start but I can say I will never be back there again and now all my pennies are going against that figure rather than fees and interest YAY!
I have also just noticed that my March payment will bring me under the £30,000 and into the 29's ... Double YAY!!

Broke_Bear

In other news, i didn't get my green fingered jobs done last weekend so I have the same ones on my list for this weekend.  I have to work on Saturday so I only have Sunday to catch up with myself.  I do detest these 6 day weeks but I suppose they are only once a month even if it does make me tired and grumpy by the end of the following week.  I have dahlias to pot on and put into the greenhouse, cosmos, basil, coriander and parsley seedlings to !!!!!! out and pot up.  The nicotiana and snap dragons will need another week before pricking out and the tannicetum and chives are steadfastly refusing to germinate (they have had a fortnight) so I may give them up as a loss and use the windowsill space for something else, I will see how many of the other jobs I get through first as I still need to sow my sweet peas into pots.

I am off for a shower and early night as I have the first rumblings of a cold (first of the season so I mustn't grumble) and I need to look after myself a bit better than I have been doing.

Goodnight All x

Broke_Bear

Well I managed to get the cosmos all pricked out and potted on, they are now in the greenhouse, didn’t get much further on the jobs list as have been a little under the weather with a virus (not THE virus) which is just sitting in my sinuses and refusing to budge.  
Hopefully it will have toddled off in time for the weekend and I can crack on.

still no sweet peas sown

just been pottering on with the financial side of things and other than petrol for getting to and from work this week I have not spent anything in March. This will change tomorrow though as I have to pay my dues for the work lottery syndicate so £5 will go there but hopefully nothing else to be spent. As this is a planned regular payment does that mean I would still have an NSD?

Oh well going to take myself off to bed and see if I can sleep this cold/virus thing off

night all x

Broke_Bear

Quite a productive day today on gardening jobs...
3 x chillies and 1 x sweet pepper potted on - plastic pots as they are staying in pots for the duration but re-used ones I already had.
16 x basil, 36 x coriander and 36 x parsley all pricked out and potted on into the small paper pots made with my kit, time consuming but free bar the compost and no plastic.
11 x dahlias all potted on again into recycled plastic pots from last year.

OH cleared the bottom end of the garden so it is tidy and useable now plus he did a big tip run to get rid of the rubbish/rubble.  Another tip run tomorrow and a few at a later date to get rid of the flagstones when his mate comes over to help and we are all done.

one veg bed is ready to go when the potatoes have chitted and the other bed just needs some more compost and the garlic can go in there.

jobs for the weekend include finishing pruning the roses, pruning the raspberries and the dogwood. Weeding some more of the borders and planting 12 x box hedgelings to continue what will be a hedge around the borders making it a pretty courtyard type garden.

on the pennies front I have only spent about £5 all week and have had several NSD’s so going well. Still building pots and EF at the moment as this got wiped out with car dentist and Christmas. all seems to be heading in the right direction at the moment.....touch wood.....famous last words and all that!